Belt shifter and holder



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

0. P. PETERSON.

BELT SHIPTER AND HOLDER.

Patented Dee. 2

JJVVENTOI? Attorney)- (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2. 0. P. PETERSON.

BELT SHIFTER AND HOLDER.

No. 308,696. Patented Dec. 2, 1884.

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( No Model) 3 Sheets-Sheet- 3. O. P. PETERSON,

BELT SHIFTER AND HOLDER. No. 308,696. Patented Dec. 2, 1884.

. QU M JJVVEJVTOR .dtforneys PETERS. Much-Lithographer, washingtm D. c,

Unrrnn Sierras PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P PETERSON, OF RICHMOND, INDIAJA.

BELT SHIFTER AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,696, dated December 2, 1884.

Applicationfiled October 4, 1884. (N0 model.)

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES I. PETERSON, acitizen of theUnited States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Wayne and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Belt Shifter and Holder, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a belt shifter and holder, the objects being, first, to improve the details of construction of the holder for which Letters Patent were granted to me July 8, 1884., and numbered 301,517, byproviding one or more of the arms of said holder with idlers in lieu of the sphericalbearings therein shown,

in order that the belt may be more readily shifted from the holder to the band pulley or wheel; second, to provide an improved shifter for removing the belt from or placing it in engagement with the band pulley or wheel; and, third, to provide a shifter which shall be simple in its construction and thoroughly effective in its operation.

- Vith these ends in view the invention 0011- sists in the combination, with a disk, of arms connected therewith, one or more of said arms being provided with idlers, while the remainder are provided with spherical or ball bearings.

The invention further consists in the combination, with the disks of the belt-holder, of a laterally-adjustable bracket or frame and a laterally-movable shifter. I

The invention further consists in the combination, with a laterally-sliding shifter, of

an arm secured thereto to aid in placing the belt upon the band pulley or wheel.

The invention further. consists in the detailed construction of holder, and in the combinations of the various parts hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the-drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a belt-holder constructed in accordancewith my invention, and showing one form of my improved shifter applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the arms of the disk, showing the same provided with idlers. Fig. 3 is a detail view of another form of shifter detached, showing the position and arrangement of the different parts of the same when vertically attached to the holder. Fig. 4c is a view showing the position of the parts when said shifter is adjusted horizontally, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shifter shown in Fig. 1 detached.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, A represents a disk or sector provided with a central opening, a, larger in diameter than the drivingshaft upon which it is intended to be placed. I find it convenient to provide the disk or seetor A with an open slot, B, sufficiently wide to admit the driving-shaft, thereby enabling the said disk or sector to be readily placed on or taken off the shaft without uncoupling; but the disk may be constructed without the opening 13 and slipped on the end of the shaft, if considered advisable. The disk A is provided with a series of radial arms, 0, at suitable distances apart about its circumference. The arms may be formed integral with the disk or sector, or they may be secured thereto with or without radial adjustment. The preferred manner of securing them, however, is to pro vide the ends ofthe said arms with open slots at and clamp the arms to the disk or sector A by means of bolts or set-screws D. The arms 0 are provided with an outer section, G, extending at right angles thereto. One or more of the sections 0, at the point where the belt leaves the holder when it is removed from the said holder to the band pulley or wheel, are provided with openings for the passage of a shaft, b. Upon said shaft 1) are mounted a series of idlers, 0. By the use of these idlers the belt may be more readily shifted from the holder to the band-pulley than with the spherical bearings, for the reason that they turn very readily; but as these idlers do not move laterally, I employ the ball-bearings for the remainder of the arms 0, for by their use the belt is readily shifted. The idlers, at the point where the belt leaves the band-pulley, aid materially in placing it on said band-pulley by imparting or allowing a free forward movement of the same, and forward movement at this point is all that is necessary. The re mainder of the arms 0 are equipped with the spherical bearings described and claimed in the patent granted me and before'mentioned,

and are placed about that part of the pulley which receives the belt, thereby allowing the belt free and easy side orlateral motion to the starting point or pulley.

F represents the shifter, which is attached to the disk A, preferably by a slotted arm, G, by which means it will be seen that it may be adjusted to or from the disk. The end of this arm F is turned at right angles to the body portion, and is provided with an open slot, (1, and is secured to the body of the shifter, or, more properly, the bed H, by bolts or other suitable means. As said bed or track is provided with a series of perforations or openings, 0, it will be seen that it may be adjusted upon the attaching-arm in a lateral direction. The bed Or track is provided with a groove or channel, f, and is provided at its ends with upwardly-projecting lugs g, which are provided with any number of registering perforatiODs, h. Between these lugs, at each end of the bed or track, is mounted a pulley,'i, which is vertically adjustable in said lugs.

G represents a casting which is adapted to slide in the bed or track, said casting having upwardly-projecting arms having inwardlyextending lugs k at their upper ends. The armsj are provided with holes oropeniugs Z upon their rear sides for the attachment of a cord. Said cords pass over the pulleys and down within easy reach of the operator, so that the slide or casting G may be moved from one end of the bed or track to the other. If desired, however, the cords may be passed under said pulleys, and then over pulleys in the joists of the room, thence to any part of the building, from which point the shifter may be operated. The outer arm of the shifterthat is, the arm farthest from the beltis provided with an outwardly-extending rod having a bent end. By the employment of this rod it will be seen that the transferring of the belt from the holder to the band pulley or wheel is greatly facilitated, as it pushes against the edge of the same and serves to lift it upon the pulley. It will thus be seen that to remove the belt from the band-wheel to the holder it is necessary only to pull the cord farthest from the inner end of the track, when the slide or casting will be moved in that direction, and thus transfer the belt. To replace the belt upon the whecl,the other cord is pulled,whieh carries the slide to the other end of the frame, and thebelt sliding upon the spherical balls of the holder is readily transferred.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown a modified form of shifter. In this case a plate having upwardly-extending sides is secured to the attaching-arm. In this plate slides a rack-bar, U, having perforations or openings on its upper side, as shown at a. The teeth upon this rack bar extend but about half the length of the bar; and adapted to engage said teeth is a pinion-wheel, V, which has communication with said rack-plate by reason of an opening being cut in one of the sides of the bed-plate. This pinion is operated by a rod connected rigidly therewith, by which means it will be seen that when said pinion is turned it will move the rack-bar in a lateral direction.

\V represents arms, which have reduced screw-threaded ends 1;, and also have screwthreaded lugs or extensions w, projecting from their sides near their lower ends. These arms, when the shifter is arranged in the position shown in Fig. 3, are attached to theraek-plate by means of the screw-threaded extensions 10,

which pass through the openings in the rackplate, and are held in place by nuts.

To arrange the shifter above described in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 4., the attaching-arm is secured to the disk A in the same manner as the arm shownin Fig. 1. The arms \V are then removed from the openings in the rack-plate and their reduced screwthreaded ends passed through the openings in the rack-plate, and are secured upon the under side of the rack-plate by means of nuts, as already described. Moreover, with this form of shifter it will be seen that the arms IV may be adjusted for different widths of belt.

The devices above described are simple in their construction and effective in their operation, and provide ready and convenient means for shifting a belt and holdingthe same when not in use.

Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention 5 hence I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction and detailed arrangement of parts herein shown and described, but reserve to myself the right to make all such slight changes and alterations as may properly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a means of aiding the shifting of belt from its holder or support to the belt-pulley, the employment of idlers for imparting a free forward movement to the belt.

2. In a belt-holder, idlers supported in close proximity to the belt-pulley, said idlers being adapted to impart a free forward movement to the belt as it is shifted from its holder to the belt-pulley, as set forth.

8. In a belt-holder, a series of movable spherical bearings and, one or more arms sup porting idlers arranged in close proximity to the belt-pulley, and adapted to support the belt as the latter is shifted from the pulley.

4?. In a belt-holder, the combination, with a series of arms, of a series of idlers and a se ries of spherical bearings, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a disk provided with laterally-extending arms, of idlers secured in one or more of said arms and ballbearings in the remainder, substantially set forth.

6. The combination, with a disk provided with arms having radial adjustment, of idlers mounted in one or more of said arms, and spherical bearings mounted in sockets of the remainder of said arms, substantially as set forth'.

7. The combination, with a disk provided with an opening to admit a shaft to a central perforation, of arms secured to the disk in radial adjustment, idlers mounted in one or more of said arms, and spherical or ball bearings secured in the remainder of said arms, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with a vertically-adr 5 justable disk, and provided with laterally-extending arms, of idlers mounted in one or more of said arms, the remainder of said arms being provided with ball-bearingsfitted in sockets thereof, substantially as set forth.

9. In a belt-carrier, the combination, with a vertically-adjustable disk, of a series of radially-adjustable arms, one or more of said arms having openings, idlers mounted on a shaft passing through said openings,and ballbearings mounted in sockets of the remainder of said arms, substantially set forth.

10. In a belt shifter and holder, the combination, with a holder, of a laterally-sliding shifter, as set forth.

11. The combination, with a holder, of a laterally-sliding shifter and an arm secured to said shift-er, as set forth.

12. The combination, with a holder, of a laterally-sliding shifter and an arm having a bent end secured to said shifter.

13. The combination, with a holder, of a laterally-adjustable bed-plate and a laterallysliding shifter.

14. The combination, with a holder, of a bed plate or track, an arm secured adjustably to said holder, said'bed-plate being adjustably attached to said arm, and a laterally-sliding shifter, substantially as set forth.

15. The combination, with a holder, of a bed-plate adjustably secured to said holder, a laterally-moving shifter sliding in said bedplate, and an arm for aiding in placing the belt upon the band-pulley, as set forth.

16. The combination, with a holder, of a bed-plate, a slotted arm having its end bent laterally and slotted, and a shifter sliding in said bed-plate, substantially as set forth.

17. The combination,with a bed-plate having a groove or channel, of a slide or shifter having upwardly-extending arms, and means, substantially as described, for shifting said slide, as set forth.

18. The combinatiomwith a bed-plate having a groove or channel, of a slide or shifter having upwardly-extending arms having inwardly-bent ends, and means, substantially as described, for effecting the shifting of said slide, substantially as set forth.

19. The combination,with a bed-plate, of a laterally-sliding shifter and an arm secured to one of the arms ofsaid shifter, substantially as set forth.

20. The combination, with a bed-plate, of a laterally;sliding shifter having upwardly extending arms provided with inwardly-extending ends, and an arm secured to the outer arm of the shifter and having an inwardly-bent end, as set forth.

21. The combination, with a bed-plate, of a laterally-sliding shifter having upwardly-extending arms, pulleys mounted in the ends of the bed-plate, and cords connected with said shifter and passing over said pulleys, as set forth.

22. The combination, with abed-plate having upwardly-extending ends, of pulleys mounted in said ends in such manner that they may be vertically adjusted, a slide or shifter having upwardly-extending arms having inwardlyextending ends, a rod having a bent end secured to the outer of said arms, and cords secured to said shifter and passing overthe pulleys, as set forth.

CHARLES 1 PETERSON.

' WVitnesses:

ALVIN E. CROCKER, RICHARD H. KING. 

